Contacting the Defender
This page sets out the languages, formats and routes by which a complaint may reach the Defender, and what the office furnishes at its own cost.
Language
A complaint is taken in any language of record. Interpretation is arranged by the Defender and paid for by the Defender. Where a complaint arrives in a language of record, the answer goes back in that language, and the finding is published in it alongside the version in the language of the body complained about.
Without writing
A clerk at any communal office writes down what is said and reads it back before stamping the receipt. The record so made is a complaint and carries the same standing as a written one. Nothing in Article 253 requires a complaint to be written by the person making it.
Formats
| Form | Available |
|---|---|
| Plain text and machine-readable data | Published with each finding on the day. |
| Large print, on request and without charge | Posted within seven days. |
| Read aloud, in person or by recording | Recordings published with every annual report. |
| Sign language interpretation at any meeting | Arranged by the Defender at its own cost. |
| Printed copy of the Constitution and its summary | Free to every dwelling and to any person on request. |
No account, no device
The public information system takes a complaint without registration and without an account. Article 301 requires public information systems to run without the consent, licence, account or continued existence of any foreign supplier, and the Defender holds to that.
No device is required at any stage. Most complaints reach the Defender through a communal office.
Where the office sits
Lindoma
Main office. Open without appointment on every working day. Interpretation available on the day for the languages of record, and within three days for any other.
Cortius
Eastern office. Same hours, same terms.
Every commune
Any communal office receives a complaint for the Defender and forwards it the same day. Most complaints reach the Defender by that route.
Places of detention
The detention division visits unannounced. Ask to speak with it privately at the next visit, or write, and the letter goes out unopened.
Other correspondence
Article 242(6): every person may address an office, and receives a reasoned answer within the period fixed by organic law.
This covers questions, criticism of the conduct of the Defender, and objections to its methods. Every answer states reasons and criticism is published with the answer where the person writing agrees to publication.